This week has been chaotic at best and I apologize for the lateness of this article. As writers who write living beings at some point our characters will probably experience attraction to another being and desire a relationship. But what kind? Romantic relationships often seem to be the default in books and movies. Hero A must… Continue reading Going Over the Rainbow: Like a Moth to a Flame

I recently ran across a post on Tumblr where the OP was rather distraught. They'd been told that using the word asexual to describe their character's orientation was historically inaccurate for their setting. This brought up the issue of explicitly stating a character's orientation within the prose and when and how this should be done.… Continue reading Going Over the Rainbow: Show and Tell

On January 8, 2016 the American Dialect Society voted singular they as the word of the year. The use of singular they builds on centuries of usage, appearing in the work of writers such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Jane Austen. In 2015, singular they was embraced by the Washington Post style guide. Bill Walsh, copy editor… Continue reading Going Over the Rainbow: Pronouns and Cons

There is a lot of great advice out there when it comes to creating our characters. From Nancy Kress' Dynamic Characters to The Positive and Negative Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi there are many excellent resources for writers looking to create truly unique and realistic characters. Even as comprehensive as these helps… Continue reading Going Over the Rainbow: Crush Those Stereotypes

Growing up in small towns in the middle of the Midwest, I didn't get much exposure to people of other races. There was not a single African American at the school I went to and only one person of mixed race. I also had no exposure to people who identified as different sexual orientations or… Continue reading Going Over the Rainbow: Moving Beyond the LG in LGBT.

Building a character is a lot like making a cake. Except you don’t want just a basic yellow cake, you want layers and frosting and all the fun stuff that makes cake great. The point is we start with a base, but we don’t stay there. That’s boring. Spice it up. Experiment, see what flavors work well together and which ones don’t.
So, let’s get cooking.

What is a traditional hero? Often in fiction, especially romance, the hero is what is termed an alpha male, which I discussed in last week’s post. The often hypermasculine and overly sexualized characters (male and female) in media, while popular, are becoming cliche.
So what makes a non-traditional hero?
First let’s break down what a hero is and what makes them a hero.

The Alpha Character Archetype gets a lot of hype. Especially in romance, er well in most genres. I personally find it very cliche and it is something I avoid. But why, you ask? Let me explain. The Alpha Character Archetype Most of the time when you mention an alpha male people immediately think of wolves.… Continue reading The Alpha Character Role and Mad Max